Solidarity/Activism/Boycott, Sanctions & DivestmentIsrael tries to lock up Abu Rahmah for two years for disturbing the “peace”, Jesse Bacon
The trial of Bil’in protest organizer, Abdallah Abu Rahmah will renew this Wednesday, after his conviction of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations was harshly criticized by the EU, the Spanish Parliament and human rights organizations. Abdallah Abu Rahmah’s trial will resume on Wednesday, as it will enter the sentencing phase, in which the prosecution will argue its case for a harsh sentencing, and is expected to ask for a sentence exceeding two years imprisonment. The defense will argue Abu Rahmah had already been devoid of his freedom for too long, and should be released immediately.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/09/israel-tries-to-lock-up-abu-rahmah-for-two-years-for-disturbing-the-peace/

Seven and half years after their daughter was crushed by an armored bulldozer, Cindy and Craig Corrie stood in front of a courthouse in Haifa, Israel. Far from home, they were surrounded by Israelis carrying signs of support in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. The Corries came for the truth of 16 March, 2003. “I’ve looked forward to today,” Craig said. “For seven and a half years our family has waited for the ‘complete, credible and transparent investigation’ promised by President Sharon to President Bush.”

IOF erected new checkpoint in Nablus
Nablus, September 14, (Pal Telegraph) Israeli occupation forces erected today morning a checkpoint on the western entrance to the city of Nablus going to the direction of Qalqilya and detained dozens of vehicles. Witnesses said that Israeli forces erected this morning a checkpoint at the crossroads of “Surrah” village west of Nablus, and stopped vehicles outside the city of Nablus going to Qalqilya. Witnesses added that the Israeli soldiers detained vehicles coming from Nablus and checked the identity cards of the owners. Israeli occupation forces opened the road between Nablus and Qalqilya, less than a month ago after a closure that lasted more than eight years.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6967:iof-erected-new-checkpoint-in-nablus&catid=59:west-bank&Itemid=135

Hamas minister condemns Al-Aqsa ‘raid’
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza-based Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs Taleb Abu Sha’ar condemned on Sunday what he described as raids by tourist groups of settlers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque area. The minister said the event was nothing new, especially saying they entered “allegedly as tourists.” He expressed concern about Israel’s willingness to accompany the visitors, as it amounts to tacit approval for the project of “Judaizing” the area. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314686

Israeli Troops Kill Palestinians With Impunity
The report, Void of Responsibility: Israel Military Policy not to investigate Killings of Palestinians by Soldiers, issued on Tuesday by B’Tselem, deals with events in the years 2006 to 2009 in which soldiers killed Palestinian civilians who were not taking part in hostilities (not including Operation Cast Lead). Soldiers who killed Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are almost never held accountable, even if the circumstances raise a grave suspicion that they acted criminally. This is the conclusion arising from B’Tselem’s report, which analyzes the policy of the Judge Advocate General’s Office over the past four years. The main reason for this dismal situation is that the army refrains, as a rule, from conducting a Military Police investigation in cases in which soldiers kill Palestinian civilians. In addition, the research shows that the Judge Advocate Generals’ Office routinely procrastinates in making decisions on files for many months, even years.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1536

Death of Gaza civilians ‘a mistake': Israeli general (AFP)
AFP – The Israeli army’s killing of three Palestinian civilians at the weekend, among them an elderly Gazan and his grandson, was a mistake, a senior commander admitted on Tuesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100914/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictgazashootingarmy

Yishai: Ease weapons laws for settlers
In aftermath of West Bank attacks, interior minister says MKs must work to afford settlers firearms.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3954049,00.html

IOF breaks into Hebron, arrests 1
Hebron, September 14, (Pal Telegraph) IOF troops backed by undercover special force broke into Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm in the West Bank, and arrested a young man then took him to an unknown destination. Local sources said that Israeli specialundercover units was traveling by car and they were pretending to be Poultry dealers, then broke into the alleys of the camp and surprised a group of young men surrounding them then arrested them. Sources added that Israeli soldiers arrested Anwar Hassan Naji (20 years), who was the target of this military operation, and chained him and put him in a car then left the area within minutes.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6968:iof-breaks-into-hebron-arrests-1&catid=59:west-bank&Itemid=135

Israeli forces detain Palestinian from refugee camp
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli special forces detained a Palestinian at the entrance of the Nur Shams refugee camp east of Tulkarem overnight on Monday. Ma’an’s correspondent said Anwar Naji, 20, was detained by Israeli forces in a private car and was taken to an unknown location. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the overnight detention.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314772

Source: Israel shuts down prison, transfers detainees
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israel’s Prison Service will shut down the Shitah prison in northern Israel and transfer 60 Palestinian detainees to the Megido-Salem prison in the same region, a source said Tuesday. The source told Ma’an that the prison agency did not provide a reason for the jail’s closure but the Detainees’ Society will follow up with those detainees who have been transferred.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314825

Hamas says 65 affiliates detained by PA
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas on Tuesday accused Palestinian Authority security forces of detaining 65 party affiliates in the West Bank. The Islamist movement said in a statement that among those arrested were 40 supporters previously released from Israeli custody. Hamas says up to 750 affiliates in the West Bank have been detained by PA forces, and several others have been summoned by the intelligence services since the movement claimed responsibility for two separate shooting attacks in the West Bank, in which four Israeli settlers were killed and two others were injured.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314778

Israel: “Talks To Be Held Away From The Media”
The office of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared Monday evening that the press conference that was supposed to be held with U.S secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, at the Egyptian resort of Sharm Al Sheikh, was cancelled as direct talks with the Palestinians will be held away from the media due to enormous difference between Israel’s position and the stances of the Palestinian leadership.http://www.imemc.org/article/59401

‘Abbas Not Authorized to Negotiate on Behalf of Palestinians’
13/09/2010 Senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan said on the eve of a summit on Tuesday in Egypt that the latest round of US-backed peace talks were “humiliating and degrading.” Radwan said his movement remained vehemently opposed to the talks being carried out by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. “He is not authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people and any agreements produced by these negotiations will not be binding on our people,” he told AFP, referring to Abbas. Abbas was to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh on Tuesday.http://almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=153902&language=en

PFLP urges Abbas: Don’t go to Sharm summit
(Ma’an) — The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said Monday that talks scheduled for Tuesday are pointless and do not serve the interests or rights of Palestinians., The leftist movement said in a statement that the Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership and PLO negotiations team ought to stop “chasing after illusions” and should cancel talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm Al-Sheikh. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314726

Al-Qassam leader: We’re committed to resistance
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A senior commander of Hamas’ armed wing the Al-Qassam Brigades vowed Tuesday to “continue the path of resistance against the occupation until victory.” “With the power of faith, weapons and missiles, tunnels and commandos we will achieve victory for Palestine and we’ll end the occupation in Gaza too,” Ahmed Al-Jabari said. Denouncing the latest round of direct negotiations hosted by Egypt, Al-Jabari said in a statement published on the Al-Qassam website that Israel should “only be treated with weapons and battle.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314928

Secretary Clinton Traveling to Sharm el-Sheikh, Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Amman
On Tuesday, Secretary Clinton will participate in the continuation of direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Sharm el-Sheikh. She will also have a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Mubarak. On Wednesday, she will join the parties for further discussions in Jerusalem and will participate in bilateral meetings with Israeli officials. On Thursday, Secretary Clinton will meet with Palestinian President Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad in Ramallah and will conclude her trip by meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman.http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/09/147025.htm

Report: Quartet lobbying enriched Abbas’ family
LONDON (Ma’an) — Middle East Quartet envoy to Jerusalem Tony Blair’s lobbying in favor of a Palestinian telecommunications company enriched the family of President Mahmoud Abbas, a UK tabloid reported Sunday. A special investigation published in The Daily Mail’s weekly edition on Blair’s financial gains from lobbying on behalf of Wataniya includes allegations that Abbas’ son made a fortune through the former British prime minister’s actions. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314550

EU training for crime scene technicians
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — EU police trainers participated Sunday in the opening ceremony of a 6-week training program for crime scene technicians that took place in the headquarters of the judicial police in Al-Bireh., This training program has been tailored-made for 36 police officers in comprehensive crime scene investigation consisting of the processing of crime scenes, the collection of forensic evidence, the handling of forensic evidence and the use of chemicals., Palestinian Civil Police will receive a number of CSI vans carrying necessary equipment and last-generation technologies for criminal investigation, the EU police training commission said in a statement. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314706

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi: Netanyahu’s remarks serves as a death penalty for the so-called peace process
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative stated that Netanyahu’s insistence on the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and his refusal to halt settlement activity is an ultimate death sentence against the so-called peace process. Barghouthi said that what is going on is in fact confirming the validity of what was warned, which was to not engage in negotiations without a halt of settlement expansion, including in the Jerusalem area.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1535

BBC Bias: The Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Anthony Lawson
Whatever happened on the Mavi Marmara on the morning of May 31st, 2010, the BBC’s Panorama team failed to give a balanced view of it in its so-called documentary, Death in the Med. Even the title sounds more like that of a paperback mystery, rather than a serious analysis of Israel’s worst atrocity since Operation Cast Lead. Documentaries should be truthful and informative and expand our understanding of situations and events; their content should be rigorously checked for errors in statements which are presented as facts and conjecture, and the personal opinions of their writers and presenters should be explicitly identified as such. But Death in the Med failed any test based on those parameters.http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/09/bbc-bias-the-gaza-freedom-flotilla/

Update on the peace talks, Ilene Cohen
Considering the reality of the occupation, why should the Palestinians continue with the peace talks farce? Mark Landler and Isabel Kershner’s article from today’s New York Times, updates the rocky state of the nonnegotiations. The Palestinians are being pressed by the Americans to do Netanyahu a favor and close their eyes because it’s too difficult for him politically to continue a settlement freeze that was never a freeze in the first place. But think about it, if he can’t even pretend to freeze the settlements, why should anyone believe that he’ll be able to decolonize for real in exchange for an agreement with the Palestinians? And if Israel is unable/unwilling to decolonize (the future state of Palestine), what’s the point of this exercise from the Palestinian perspective? They’re in line for nothing but more humiliation.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/update-on-the-peace-talks.html

Will Harvard drop honor for Peretz?, Ibn Tufayl
Marty Peretz is finally receiving some long overdue recognition: Harvard’s Committee on Social Studies in its forthcoming 50th anniversary celebrations will pay homage to the man. Participants in the 50th anniversary celebrations include: Michael Walzer, Stanley Hoffmann, Marty Peretz (who will speak over lunch), Amy Gutman and Harvard President Drew Faust. But questions are starting to be raised as to whether it should go forward.
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/will-harvard-drop-honor-for-peretz.html

The Occupation’s Many Faces, Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
There is an overriding reality that cannot be dismissed here in Palestine. Israel controls just about every aspect of our lives. No matter how we try to turn it around, candy coat it or look at it from a “different perspective” this is the truth and the main reason why no partial agreement will ever hold. One only has to travel in the occupied Palestinian territories to know this to be true. Over the Eid Al Fitr – the Muslim holiday following the month of Ramadan – the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem (itself only a recent reality) was jam packed to kingdom come. People spent literally two, three and four hours trying to make their way out of a one-kilometer area because the Israelis had decided to block all traffic going out of Ramallah towards Jerusalem. It did not matter that people had plans, needed to get back to their children and parents or in the worst case scenario, get to a hospital. At the iron gate opened in the separation wall at Qalandiya, a group of young Israeli soldiers stood with their weapons cocked and smirks across their faces as they watched desperate Palestinians trying to inch their way out of the mess. Rather than the [Israeli] authority responsible for the chaos trying to alleviate the situation, instead young Palestinian men exited their cars and tried to direct traffic.
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=22566&CategoryId=3

Palestinian killed in Lebanon camp clashes
BEIRUT (Ma’an) — A Palestinian man was killed Monday amid clashes in the Lebanon refugee camp of Ein Al-Hilweh, Lebanese media reported. Palestinian sources told the online news site NOW Lebanon that Mohammad Nazar was shot and killed after fighting broke out between Nazar and Haitham Ash-Sha’bi, a member of the Jund Ash-Sham factions, following a personal dispute. Ash-Sha’abi was transferred to the governmental hospital in Sidon for treatment. According to the news site, Nazar was affiliated with Islamic Palestinian factions in the refugee camp. Representatives from the factions held an urgent meeting over Nazar’s killing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=314886

Business as Usual in Iraq, MARJORIE COHN
Last week, President Obama ceremoniously announced that U.S. combat operations had ended in Iraq. As Democrats face an uphill battle in the upcoming midterm elections, Obama felt he had to make good on his campaign promise to move the fighting from Iraq to Afghanistan. But while he has escalated the killing in Afghanistan, it’s business as usual in Iraq. The United States, with its huge embassy in Baghdad and five large bases throughout Iraq, will continue to pull the strings there. Last week, Vice President Biden delivered a power-sharing plan to the Iraqis, who have been unable to form a government in the six months since the March election resulted in a stalemate. “We think that’s better for the future of Iraq,” Biden declared. The New York Times speculated about whether “the Americans can close the deal.” But the United States will continue to do a lot more than simply make suggestions about how Iraqis should share political power.http://www.counterpunch.com/cohn09132010.html

U.S. and Other World NewsIran ‘releases female US hiker’
Iran has released an American woman held for more than a year on suspicion of spying, reports from Iran say.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-us-canada-11299867

Egypt sentences Bedouins to life imprisonment
ISMAILIA, Egypt, Sept 13 (Reuters) – An Egyptian court sentenced seven Bedouins for life imprisonment on Monday, in a case some tribesmen said would refuel long-running tension in the Sinai Peninsula. Bedouins, among nomadic Arab tribes in the Sinai, often complain of neglect by the Cairo government and say tough living conditions have led some of their people to resort to smuggling and other activities considered criminal by the state.http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE68C1V7.htm

Banning Slaughter, Kathy Kelly
In the early 1970’s, I spent two summers slinging pork loins in a Chicago meat-packing factory. Rose Packing Company paid a handful of college students $2.25 an hour to process pork. Donning combat boots, yellow rubber aprons, goggles, hairnets and floor length white smocks that didn’t stay white very long, we’d arrive on the factory floor. Surrounded by deafening machinery, we’d step over small pools of blood and waste, adjusting ourselves to the rancid odors, as we headed to our posts. I’d step onto a milk crate in front of a huge bin full of thawing pork loins. Then, swinging a big, steel T-hook, I’d stab a large pork loin, pull it out of the pile, and plop it on a conveyor belt carrying meat into the pickle juice machine. Sometimes a roar from a foreman would indicate a switch to processing Canadian pork butts, which involved swiftly shoving metal chips behind rectangular cuts of meat. On occasion, I’d be assigned to a machine that squirted meat waste into a plastic tubing, part of the process for making hot dogs. I soon became a vegetarian.http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16260

MJ Rosenberg: I Make Marty Peretz Apologize For Anti-Muslim Screed
After years of writing racist screeds, Martin Peretz of the New Republic finally had to apologize. He is writing in response to the brilliant and, in my opinion, wonderful Nick Kristof who wrote a column excoriating Peretz yesterday. Kristof, to his credit, wrote in his New York Times blog that I (along with my friend, Emily Hauser) was the one who brought the Peretz piece to his attention. This is for me the beauty of the internet and of my job with Media Matters Action Network. Thanks to the blogosphere and Media Matters Action (which moved me from working within the confines of the Jewish world to the rest of it!), I can make my own small difference in the battle against racial and religious prejudice like that which is consuming America right now. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/i-make-marty-peretz-apolo_b_714660.html

Riz Khan – Islamophobia in the US
Tension and acrimony marked the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the US. Relations between Muslims and people of other faiths appear to have slipped to a new low with the controversies over Quran-burning and the proposed Islamic centre near ‘ground zero’ in New York City. Is the US becoming increasingly intolerant towards Islam?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMbkeN83mY&feature=youtube_gdata

Empire special – Islam and America
On the 9th anniversary of 9/11, the fault lines between the US and the Muslim world seem to have expanded. As America’s internal cultural wars begin to affect its foreign policy, what are the options for President Obama? Which is the real US: The one that fights for Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the one that considers US Muslims as the enemy within? And have Osama bin Laden’s hopes of driving a wedge between the US and the Muslim world become a reality?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE6LPV3BJQs&feature=youtube_gdata

9 Responses

>> Jerusalem planning committee’s contribution to the peace process: 1,362 new housing units in the West Bank

Well I grew up here in Palestine
My grandaddy’s, my daddy’s, then mine
The British went and gave it away
The Zionists said I couldn’t stay
Tanks to the left of me, sett’lers to the right, here I am
Stuck in the middle of Jews

(with apologies to Stealers (Better) Wheels)

Keep spinning those “better wheels”, boys, and don’t forget to “Remember the Holocaust!”

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